A Syrian man walks through a burnt house on Thursday, May 5, in the southern Syrian protest hub of Daraa, the scene of clashes during a military lockdown of more than a week in which dozens of people were killed in what activists termed as "indiscriminate" shelling of the town, some 62 miles south of the capital Damascus. The Syrian military's political department chief insisted that troops "did not confront the protesters" in Daraa, adding that 25 soldiers were killed and 177 wounded during the military campaign to "search for terrorists".

Louai Beshara / AFP - Getty Images

Syrian youths wave national flags as they stand on the side of the road while army troops drive out of the southern protest hub of Daraa on Thursday, following a military lockdown of more than a week.

Louai Beshara / AFP - Getty Images

Syrian women (unseen) shower army troops with rose petals and rice as youths holding up a national flag in front of a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad ride on an army tank pulling out of the southern protest hub of Daraa on Thursday.